A lawsuit claims the Camp Fire, which killed at least 88 people, was started by a faulty transmission tower that brought dangerous live wires crashing down.

The Camp Fire, which killed at least 88 people in Northern California, was started by faulty steel rings high atop an electric company’s transmission tower which brought dangerous live wires crashing down, a lawsuit claimed on Thursday.

A civil complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court accused Pacific Gas and Electric Co. of failing to properly maintain a tower near the town of Pulga in Butte County, which allowed a live wire to come loose on the morning of Nov. 8 and touch off the most deadly wildfire in California history.

Rings that link power lines either fell or broke off on the 75-foot-tall tower, plaintiffs claim. Some utility towers in this area are nearly a century old, according to the lawsuit by about three dozen plaintiffs and which was first reported by NBC Bay Area.

“PG&E’s failure to properly inspect and maintain the tower led to damage to the tower jumper extension which in turn brought the uninsulated jumper into contact with the steel tower,” according to the lawsuit. “Blazing hot molten materials dropped into the fine dead fuels below the conductor igniting the devastating Camp Fire.”

In addition killing at least 88 people, the Camp Fire burned 153,336 acres and torched 13,972 homes, Cal Fire has said. Nearly all of the town of Paradise was destroyed.

“The cause of the Camp Fire is still under investigation,” PG&E spokesman Matt Nauman said. “We continue to focus on assessing infrastructure, safely restoring power where possible and helping our customers recover and rebuild.” Read more

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